Original article on The Giseborne Herald website
Thirty-six people from around the world, including New Zealand, will gather for the International Development Design Summit (IDDS) in Tairāwhiti next month.
Resilient indigenous communities and keeping Māori heritage alive for future generations with a focus on the environment and entrepreneurship are key parts of the summit.
Hosted by Tolaga Bay Heritage Charitable Trust, it is being held from September 1 to 20 and will involve several locations: Tolaga Bay, Ruatōria, Gisborne, Hicks Bay, Te Reinga and Mahia.
For the community, a showcase will be held on September 13 at Treble Court in Gisborne and a final showcase and cultural/talent night will be presented on September 20 at the Tolaga Bay Inn and Hauiti Marae.
Hauiti Marae is the accommodation site, summit sessions will be held at marae and Ūawa Sports Club and there will be project sites at marae and venues in Ruatōria, Hicks Bay and Te Reinga.
In a summit overview, organisers say it will “bring together local Māori community members and indigenous and allied changemakers from around the world to co-create grassroots solutions to community-identified challenges in climate change, food production, agriculture, energy, waste management and livelihoods”.
One of the summit’s lead organisers is Ūawa-based Thabiso Mashaba - an Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF) International Fellow from Botswana and co-founder and chief executive of global social enterprise These Hands.
Another key figure involved is international academic Amy B Smith - a MacArthur Fellow, inventor, and senior lecturer of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Summit sessions will include empowering harakeke weavers, low-cost tools for berry seed extraction, sustainable cooking with charcoal briquette cook stoves and enhancing small-scale farming.
More information
International Development Innovation Network (IDIN)
International Development Innovation Summits (IDDS) & MIT D-Lab
Contact
Thabiso Mashaba, CEO These Hands & IDIN Steering Committee
Amy Smith, MIT D-Lab Founding Director & IDIN Steering Committee